Treatment of an individual's head of hair, for example to colour the hair, is well known. A particularly popular style of treatment is to provide sections of the head of hair with a different colour to the bulk of the hair, e.g. to provide so-called □highlights□. It is also becoming popular to provide different sections of the hair with different colours, such as up to seven different colours. The method for achieving this effect used to date is to separate one section of hair, to treat that section of hair with a colouring agent and after allowing time for that agent to take effect, rinsing and drying the hair. This process is repeated with another section of the hair and another colouring agent, and so on until the final desired effect has been achieved. not only does this method take considerable time, but there is a risk of one colour □bleeding□ into another colour if the different sections of the hair to be treated cannot be kept strictly apart.
We are aware of U.S. Pat. No. 4,665,933 (Zinger et al.) which describes a system of dyeing human hair which is performed by layering the hair in separating members referred to as tiers and selectively dyeing each layer. The separating members are annular ellipsoids whose major and minor axes are in the same ratio and are fabricated in sets of ascending size. Each separating member has disposed along its inner circumference, evenly spaced comb tooth-like projections.
We are also aware of Netherlands patent NL 1020368 (Veenstra) which describes a similar hair treatment method in which a set of N separating members referred to as elements, is used, where N is a whole number, each element being designed to be placed on the head and provided with a surface over which the hair can be spread. The treatment method comprises the following steps: (a) placing the first element on the head; (b) spreading a layer of hair over the first element; (c) treating the layer of hair above the first element; and (d) repeating steps (a)-(c) for one or more additional elements, each of which is located at a distance from the previous element.
In both Zinger et al. and Veenstra the separating members of different sizes are placed on the head in an array in descending circumference, that is the separating member with the largest circumference is used first and then progressively separating members of smaller and still smaller circumference. As a consequence, these proposals suffer from several disadvantages.
Firstly, because a lower section of hair is treated before treating a higher hair section, there is a risk that treatment liquids used for a higher hair section may drip onto an already treated lower hair section, thereby leading to mixing and bleeding of colours. This gravity effect acts against creating effects with clearly demarcated colour regions.
Because the separating members extend away from the head, it is difficult to wash the hair without removing those separating members, but in so doing the various sections of hair will come in contact with each other risking mixing and bleeding of dye from one hair section to another.
Furthermore, that section of hair below the largest circumference separating member cannot be separately treated using these prior proposals.
Because the treated hair sections in these proposals are exposed, the chemical reactions involved in the bleaching and/or dyeing process are slow and it may be necessary to complete these reactions under a heat lamp. This would involve removing the separating members before these reactions are complete, again risking mixing and bleeding of colour from one hair section to another.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and a kit of parts which enable the aforesaid disadvantages to be overcome.